


little spitfire girl

by Azaisya



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Gen, Pre-Canon, and having a minor existential crisis, featuring Kaylie winning one (1) card game
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-10
Updated: 2019-01-10
Packaged: 2019-09-28 11:01:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,187
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17181710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Azaisya/pseuds/Azaisya
Summary: In the early days of her travels with Dr. Dranzel's Spectacular Traveling Troupe, Kaylie has insecurities. Dr. Dranzel cuts to the root of the problem, without ever seeing its heart.





	little spitfire girl

**Author's Note:**

> written for an anon over on tumblr! This version is slightly more polished. 
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Critical Role, nor any of the characters or locations mentioned herein.

Kaylie stretched her arms up and outwards, cards clutched in her nimble fingers, and smiled broadly. "Well, boys," she said cheerfully, smile pulled wide in a shit-eating grin, "It looks like the pot's mine."

The people sitting at the table around her—mostly humans, although there was a rather sturdy looking dwarf clutching a handful of cards and a sizable flagon of mead at the far end of the table—all groaned loudly. Most were content with the game, but a few shot her dark looks as she eagerly scooped handfuls of coins into her bag.

"Thank _you_ ," she declared, gleefully ignoring the dirty look the dwarf gave her. "What do you say to another round?"

"Hey now," the dwarf said, "How do I know you're not cheating?"

Kaylie flashed her brightest smile, even as she tucked the last of her newly won gold into her own pocket dimension. "I don't need to cheat to win."

The dwarf got to his feet, his hand dropping to the massive greatsword at his side. "Perhaps you should show us what's up your sleeves, little lady," he snarled, voice dark.

Kaylie's smile turned sharp and daring. "I'd like to see you try and make me." Her hand dropped to her pocket, where her harmonica was. It wasn't her best instrument, sure, but she could play it quickly and one-handed and that was all she needed to knock a man out cold.

The dwarf let out a low growl and leaped over the table, drawing his sword. Kaylie had her harmonica halfway to her lips, arcane magic already sparking through her veins, when a massive grey-green hand snatched the dwarf off his feet and set him forcefully down into his seat.

Grinning broadly, long fangs white in the tavern's lamplight, a massive orc leaned over the dwarf. "You aren't giving my friend here any trouble, are you?"

The dwarf opened his mouth, but then his eyes dropped to Dr. Dranzel's arms, which were nearly as thick as his torso, and he swallowed whatever insult he'd been about to spew. Weakly, he said, "Right. I'll just be—" Dranzel's grin turned wolfish. "—leaving."

As the rest of the card players fled, Kaylie dropped her harmonica back into her pocket and crossed her arms, waiting impatiently for Dranzel to look at her. He sank into the dwarf's now-vacated chair with a heavy _thump_ and inspected his abandoned drink before shrugging and downing the entire thing.

Irritated that he wasn't even bothering to look at her, Kaylie sprang to her feet. Although she was standing and he was sitting, the top of her head didn't even brush his collarbone. Scowling, she called, "Hey!"

Dranzel tilted his head down towards her and grinned. His smiles were never gentle, per se, but this one was less predatory than it had been earlier. It was softer, if that was a word she might ever apply to the massive half-orc. "Not a bad profit for one night, Kaylie."

Kaylie's eyes narrowed. "I didn't need your help."

Dranzel's smile vanished, and his eyes gleamed. "Oh?"

Frustrated that he didn't seem to understand, she snapped, "I was fine. That idiot wasn't even a threat!" When he didn't say anything, she crossed her arms and continued, "Nobody's ever looked out for me before, but I'm fine, aren't I? I'm strong enough. I can take care of myself. I'm not just a pretty little gnome who plays pretty little songs." When he just stared, a frustrated sound escaped her throat. "Well? Anything to say?"

Dranzel downed whatever was in one of the many tankards on the table and slammed it back down with a loud _thunk_. She didn't flinch. Flatly, eyes flicking carelessly from the tankard to her, he said, "You done?"

Kaylie stared at him, jaw working up and down. "I'm sorry?" she managed, too insulted to even think of anything more eloquent.

Dranzel sat upright, resting both elbows on the table and staring straight into her eyes without blinking. "C'mere, Kaylie."

She gaped at him. "No. Absolutely not. I'm not a child."

His eyes narrowed and, voice hard, he said, "Kaylie."

Gritting her teeth, Kaylie leaped up onto the table with a flourish that sent the edge of her skirt flying in a wide arc, because _dammit_ if she was going to be forced into doing something she was damn well going to make a show out of it. Chin high, she walked across the slightly uneven surface of the table, her boots clicking on the wood. She stopped a good foot and a half away from Dranzel and crossed her arms, glaring daggers down at him.

He looked at her for several long seconds, and she had to bite back the urge to snap at him. He didn't look at her like the men from her hometown, the ones who'd always assumed that they were entitled to her, and it made her uneasy. She wasn't used to men looking at her without _wanting_ something. She was good at playing people, and she was proud of it, but she'd never met a man like Dr. Dranzel before.

He saw past her prickly exterior, and it made her want to look away.

"Kaylie," he said, "You're one of the most powerful bards I've ever met."

Her spine prickled, anxiety and anger and something she didn't care to name rolling in her gut. "Well then! I don't see why we have a problem. You know I can take care of my own damn self."

Dr. Dranzel waved his hand at the tavern, but she didn't look away from him. Somewhere to her left, she could hear Zedd playing and Esilmere singing. "You're part of Dr. Dranzel's Spectacular Traveling Troupe, Kaylie! I don't give a fuck if you can turn these fools inside out with your flute. You're part of my troupe, and so you're under my protection." He lazily grabbed another one of the abandoned tankards. "I don't let anybody mess with my people."

Kaylie blinked. "Oh," she said, suddenly feeling rather small. _Part of my troupe_ , he'd said, casually, as if the words meant nothing to him, _My people._

She'd never been a part of anything before.

Dranzel's expression was knowing, and a smug smile flickered over his lips. "Look, kid, I don't care about whatever daddy issues or lone wolf complexes you have." She opened her mouth, affronted all over again, but he continued. "You're with me now, and I look after my own."

Kaylie closed her mouth, unsure how to reply to that. Dranzel just stared at her a moment longer before leaning back against his chair with a slight chuckle. On the other side of the tavern, Esilmere's voice rose to a particularly high pitch, and he cringed and threw his head over his shoulder. "Esilmere, dammit girl, listen to your accompanist! What am I paying you for?!"

As he continued shouting, Kaylie hopped off of the table and retreated back to her chair, grabbing her own tankard and taking a healthy swig, avoiding Dr. Dranzel's eyes the entire time.

He'd given her quite a bit to think about.

**Author's Note:**

> (find me @azaisya on tumblr!)


End file.
